By Dieter & Netzin Steklis, DFGFI scientists
October 2005
As we near the 20th anniversary of Dian Fossey's untimely death, many of us find ourselves unwittingly thinking of her and perhaps reflecting on what made her so remarkable, so unforgettable. By remarkable, we follow the definition of The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth Edition © 2000, Houghton Mifflin): “attracting notice as being unusual or extraordinary.” Note that this definition is quite neutral in that it has neither positive nor negative connotations. To qualify as being remarkable, a person need not have been saintly, they need only have been extraordinary. From our perspective, then, how was Fossey remarkable? We suggest that she had a particular set of character traits which, deployed within the scientific, cultural, and political context of her time and place, made her remarkable. In our view, Fossey's key character traits included an affinity for animals, unyielding determination, intellectual curiosity, and undaunted courage. Character traits, like the proverbial double-edged sword, can be productive or destructive depending on the context of their use. In Fossey's case, they led to an uncommon understanding of mountain gorillas, use of radical - and to some, very alarming-- conservation tactics, but, ultimately, they contributed to a reversal in the disastrous trajectory of the Virunga gorilla population.
Allow us a small detour here, to explain the basis - and provide some legitimacy -- for this brief “psycho-historical” analysis of Dian Fossey. We are not psychoanalysts, have not exhaustively researched every nook and cranny of her life, nor had a conversation with her (though one of us spotted her at primatological conferences). On the other hand, she is no stranger to us, in that we have read the majority of published accounts of her life and work, including her own popular and scientific writings. We have poured over her own voluminous field notes and unpublished manuscripts. We lived in the camp she built -- Karisoke, high in the Virunga volcanoes, and experienced the physical and mental challenges of the relatively secluded, spartan high altitude living. We took joy in observing the very same gorillas, whose lives she so carefully chronicled. Over the past 14 years, we have had countless conversations about Fossey with fellow scientists and Karisoke trackers and anti-poaching patrols who knew her personally. And, dumbfounded, we had the assigned task of clearing out her rickety cabin -- of sorting through her personal effects left untouched after her murder; we removed her still blood-stained mattress. Collectively, then, these materials and experiences fuel our presently stated opinion of her.
Many people are likely familiar with Fossey's unorthodox odyssey from a young girl not allowed to have pets in California, to occupational therapist living on a farm in Kentucky, to Louis Leakey acolyte and protégée, to her name becoming nearly synonymous with that of the great ape she so diligently studied, loved, and so fervently wished to save.
Affinity for Animals
Along the way, her natural affinity and respect for animals was perhaps fundamental in captivating and directing her attentions, both personal and professional. She worked on a dude ranch. Though veterinary school was not her “cup of tea,” in college she excelled in animal-related courses. She went on an African safari to see animals in the wild, including the little know mountain gorilla. At Karisoke, she kept domesticated animals as pets, such as chickens, geese, a dog, and a confiscated pet monkey, and regularly attracted wildlife to camp, including a raven pair, elephant, and antelope. Her early contact with farm animals appears to have influenced her choice of gorilla names (“Old Goat”, “Whinney”) and descriptions of their calls (e.g., “pig grunts”). Arguably, her experience with and need for animal companions great and small surely tempered any natural fear of close encounters with wild gorillas, whom the 19th century French naturalist Paul du Chaillu (whose 1857 book she had on her cabin shelf) described as “hellish dream creatures -- a being of that hideous order half man, half beast”. And, arguably, she was inclined to conduct her gorilla observations at a “respectful” distance - a source of great frustration to National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell-because of her sensitivity to and respect for animals.
Unyielding Determination
Throughout her life, Dian exhibited an iron will to achieve her goals. In 1963, during the course of her African safari, (which, despite offers of help, she insisted on financing herself with her own savings and a bank loan), she presented herself unannounced on the tent doorstep of the world-renowned Leakeys at their Olduvai archeological site. Her brazenness may have impressed Louis Leakey, for he did not turn her away immediately, thus setting the stage for their 1966 “historic” encounter at his public lecture in Louisville, Kentucky. Within the following year, Fossey returned to Africa to officially begin her study of mountain gorillas, after a voluntary appendectomy on the heels of a small remark about it by Leakey. Already then, Dian was a heavy smoker, and we know that the high altitude wet and cold climate of the Virungas and the daily demands of following the trail of gorillas, from the outset, was posing significant respiratory challenges for her. Living alone (mostly) in a tent in the early years of her fieldwork, on limited funds secured by Leakey, in an inhospitable, or, to her, health-unfriendly, environment, could have been reason enough to pack-up and return home. But she persevered, and hardened herself, as she knew she must. When her most loved gorilla, “Digit,” who first accepted her presence and appeared to take an equal interest in her, was brutally killed and dismembered by poachers, she responded, turning personal tragedy into action, by founding the Digit Fund -- forerunner of today's Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.
Intellectual Curiosity
It is unfortunate, though not surprising, that the popular film, “Gorillas in the Mist” offers little about Dian Fossey as scientist, nor particularly about her intellectual curiosity, which both inspired and informed her research. The evidence is there, nonetheless, in her many scientific publications (over 30 articles and books), and it is often found laid bare in the form of penciled comments or annotations in the sidelines to her carefully typed field notes. These reveal a questioning intellect, one searching for reasons or underlying causes of the day's diligently recorded events, or sometimes speculating about the motivations, feelings and thoughts lurking behind those surely sentient dark eyes. Here we must remember that in the late 1960s, notions of “animal awareness” (or of conscious, intentional action) were neither scientifically widespread nor popular. On the other hand, those with equal intellectual curiosity, who were observing the daily soap operas within monkey or ape groups, were beginning to hold deep suspicions or nascent convictions that the trials and tribulations of their subjects' lives were based in mental states not unlike our own. For Dian, this belief in the complex individual personalities of the gorillas led to her distinctive descriptions and analyses of individual gorillas and the societies in which they lived. It also inspired her to 'experiment' in the field, such as recording the reactions of the gorillas to novel objects like toys, mirrors, candy, and so forth. There can be little doubt that, as in the case of Jane Goodall's casting of chimpanzee family life, this unveiling of a human-like gorilla personality, so masterfully caught on film by National Geographic's Bob Campbell, turned de Chaillu's “hellish creatures” into the gentle, lovable giants of the primate world.
Undaunted Courage
Lastly, we suggest that a goodly amount of personal courage, daring, even recklessness at times, contributed to Dian's particular mark on history. Early on, she overcame her personal fears arising from having no previous relevant experience or qualifications, in accepting Leakey's offer to become his “gorilla girl.” She did so despite having no clue or experience in the simple logistics of outfitting and setting up a camp. Luckily, the experienced field naturalist and film maker, Alan Root, facilitated her start at Kabara meadow on the Congo side of the Virungas. A greater test of her courage, however, was soon to come, when in 1967 Congolese soldiers forcefully arrested and confined her. She soon planned and successfully executed her escape, crossed the border into Rwanda and proceeded to establish a new camp (Karisoke) just a few kilometers from Kabara. In retrospect, this was perhaps in itself a daring, if not reckless, act, in that she had no permit from the Rwandan authorities to establish her camp nor to study the gorillas.
In spite of this, her research and life there among the gorillas might have been uneventful had it not been for the rising threat of gorilla poaching and illegal cattle grazing in the park. By 1973, Dian had declared an all out war on poaching, and in that spirit had begun to use a pistol and other “guerilla war-like tactics” to intimidate, frighten and deter poachers. She clearly saw this form of “active conservation” as necessary and justified for herself, despite the dangers it introduced and the growing opposition among staff and researchers at Karisoke, let alone the grave disenchantment among government authorities. Indeed, by 1979, alarm about her tactics and personal safety had grown among her colleagues and benefactors to the point where they convinced her to take a three year leave teaching and writing at Cornell University. Were it not for this forced leave, her only and influential book “Gorillas in the Mist” would likely not have been written. Despite worsening health problems, Dian returned to Karisoke, perhaps knowing then that she might well die there, though not in the brutal way she did. Her ultimate act of courage was in placing the lives of the gorillas above her own. She was murdered in her cabin in 1985, just four years before a new census showed that, at long last, the gorilla population had reversed its dreaded downward path.
Clearly Dian Fossey was remarkable. Moreover, what makes Dian Fossey unforgettable, is not only her extraordinary story, but also that she reminds us of how our own character traits -- positively or negatively perceived-- have the potential to lead to remarkable achievements.
